11/15/2011 MinutesCITY OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA
MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
November 15, 2011
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Grand
Island, Nebraska was conducted in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 East First Street, on
November 15, 2011. Notice of the meeting was given in the Grand Island Independent on
November 9, 2011.
Mayor Jay Vavricek called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following Councilmember's
were present: Chuck Haase, Larry Carney, Bob Niemann, Kirk Ramsey, Peg Gilbert, Mitch
Nickerson, Linna Dee Donaldson, Scott Dugan, Randy Gard, and John Gericke. The following
City Officials were present: City Administrator Mary Lou Brown, City Clerk RaNae Edwards,
City Attorney Bob Sivick, and Interim Finance Director Jaye Monter.
INVOCATION was given by Community Youth Council member Ashley Bykerk followed by
the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS:
Reco�nition of Tom Osterbuhr for Participation in the New York Marathon and Fund Raising
Efforts for St. Jude's Children's Research Hos ip tal• Mayor Vavricek and the City Council
recognized Tom Osterbuhr, a St. Jude's Hero who just returned from competing in the New York
City Marathon to help raise funding for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Mr. Osterbuhr
was present for the recognition and commented on his run and fund raising efforts of over
$5,000.
MAYOR COMMUNICATION: Mayor Vavricek introduced Community Youth Council
members Ashley Bykerk, Alex Wirth, and Jordyn Barnett.
OTHER ITEMS:
Discussion on Veolia WWTP Operations Proposal. City Administrator Mary Lou Brown
commented about meeting with the employees of the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Monday.
Acknowledged was the work by these individuals. Ms. Brown gave an update of the past
discussions regarding this issue. This was not privatization of the Wastewater Treatment Plant
but an operating management agreement. At the July 11, 2011 City Council Study Session, the
Public Works Department gave a presentation concerning contracting operations of the
Wastewater Treatment Plant to a private company. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was
developed and proposals were submitted by four qualified companies. A selection committee
selected Veolia Water as the most qualified company for the contract management of the
Wastewater Treat Plant.
Page 2, City Council Study Session, November 15, 2011
-� Mentioned were services not currently performed by the City of Grand Island such as: garbage
collection, animal control, economic development, baseball and softball programs, Heartland
Event Center, and the Racquet Center.
Explained were the following reasons of when a contract would be desirable: 1) increased
expertise; 2) irregularly occurring tasks; 3) expediency; 4) specialized equipment required; 5)
liability; and 6) lower cost.
The following were reasons not to issue a contract: 1) loss of control; 2) lost of quality; 3) loss of
flexibility; 4) loss of other duties performed; 5) loss of transparency; 6) loss of political
responsiveness; and 7) lack of public accountability.
Public Works Director John Collins explained the following potential benefits: 1) optimize plant
operations by utilizing expertise gained through years of operating dozens or even hundreds of
these facilities; 2) reduce our operating costs; 3) reduce long term costs by guiding our choices
during the $44 million repair program; and 4) reduce odor by optimizing operation.
Dave Carter, Vice President of Operations representing Veolia Water explained the Operations
Agreement with the City maintaining control. The City would own the assets, define the scope of
the contract and set rates. Veolia Water would manage the day-to-day operations, be responsible
for permit compliance and pay operating costs.
Veolia Water objectives were to: reduce short-term and long-term costs, optimize operations
such as permit compliance and enhanced Odor Mitigation Program, and to provide
accountability. Mr. Carter answered questions concerning the City paying for the odor costs.
Currently Veolia Water would not know the costs but would look into it and come back to the
City with a plan.
Sandy Thompson, Director of Human Resources with Veolia Water explained the employee
issues. Veolia Water would recognize the hire dates of each employee. Career growth
opportunities, group and individual incentives and training and license upgrades along with
comparable salaries and benefits were offered by Veolia Water.
The transition process was a well-defined new hire process. Veolia had already started to meet
with the employees. Current employees would go through a new-hire process.
Jack Page, Technical Director commented on the operations management approach. Explained
were Veolia Procurement Advantage and BioWin Modeling. The following Asset
Management/Capital Planning was presented:
• Reliability Centered Maintenance
• Computer Maintenance Management System
• Short-term and Long-term Capital Planning
• CARMS Modeling
Peg Becker, Area Manager reviewed the Price Proposal which included the following: labor and
benefits; repair and maintenance, technical assistance, long-term planning, operations
Page 3, City Council Study Session, November 15, 2011
management, laboratory, industrial pretreatment, odor control management; and solids
dewatering and disposal.
Interim Finance Director Jaye Monter presented the Veolia proposal with regards to the budget.
Included was the General Operations/WWTP/Composting to Solids. Fixed asset costs were
explained. Discussion was held concerning the Human Resources costs through the Governance
portion of the budget that may go down. The savings to the City for the 2012 Budget was
$527,035.
Human Resources Director Brenda Sutherland presented the following benefits comparison for
the employees at the WWTP between the City and Veolia Water:
Ci Veolia Water
Seniority Recognize the employee's
seniority with the City
Major Medical/Dental/Vision PPO medical, dental, no vision EPO< PPO or SPPO options,
vision
Sick Leave 8 hours per month, maximum Front load each employee 80
accrual 1, 064 paid at 37.5% at hours. 1.54 per pay period-
retirement or death bank up to 160 hours
Short Term Disability n/a Up to 26 weeks
Continuous Service 80% or
60% Benefit based on years of
service
Long Term Disability Monthly benefit — 60% of mo 50% of pay to maximum of
pay to max of $8,500 $7,000 per month
60% option available
Vacation Days Up to 22 days Up to 20 days
Holidays and Personal Days 11 10
Retirement Plan/401K City matches 100% of 6% VWNA matches 50% up to
contribution 7% of employee contribution
5 year vesting 3 year vesting
Life & accidental death &$50,000 emp/ No cost to employee
dismemberment (AD&D) $10,000 Souse, 1 x base pay to maximum of
insurance $5,000 dependents $300,000; same amount of
No cot to employee AD&D
Flexible Benefits Healthcare $4,500 Healthcare $5,000
Dependent Care $5,000 Dependent Care $5,000
Voluntary group legal n/a Available
Tuition reimbursement Budget authority -$0 Up to %5,250 per yr.
Adoption reimbursement n/a Up to $2,500 per yr.
529 plan — Putnam college n/a After-tax savings program
advantage
Employee Discount Program n/a Corporate discount program
(travel, cell phone, Fed-Ex,
auto purchase, electronics,
Page 4, City Council Study Session, November 15, 2011
offce supplies, etc.)
Questions were asked regarding short-term and long-term costs to the employee. Ms. Sutherland
stated Veolia would pay that cost. No employee would go backwards in pay if the City went with
Veolia.
Veolia had committed to recognizing the current union representation of the employees. The
Veolia benefits that had been presented were based on the non-union package. Negotiations
would begin with the union to reach a labor agreement with IBEW Local 1597. Total employee
accruals if the City decided to pay out to the WWTP employees would be approximately
$157,706.55. Sandy Thompson answered questions concerning rolling over vacation and medical
leave.
Council took a recess at 8:33 p.m. and reconvened at 8:39 p.m.
The following people spoke in opposition of the management agreement with Veolia:
• John Henderson, 1068 Hwy 281, St. Paul, NE — WWTP Superintendent — spoke in
opposition but stated if the City decided to go with Veolia the City would have his full
cooperation in the transition.
• Paul Wicht, 936 South Kimball
• Tim O'Neill, 1203 South Sylvan
• Bill Partington, 2012 West Louise
Comments were made by Council concerning change and trust. Mentioned was the work the
WWTP employees do and if they were not experts in their field then the City needed to give
them the tools to accomplish that.
Councilmember's mentioned the calls received from the public which were in opposition. Mr.
Page answered questions concerning the people who worked with Veolia who were experts in
their field. Mentioned were the number of other contacts they had throughout the world.
Nationwide Veolia had approximately 450 companies with 115 in the Central Region. Those
companies still with Veolia were approximately 9'7%.
It was suggested that this decision go to a vote of the people. Comments were made concerning
the potential savings which came down to operational expertise, the employees, and technology.
Mr. Collins answered questions concerning what it would take to get our existing employees to a
level of what the Veolia proposal presented. Mr. Collins stated we don't have the number of
staff, so$ware, data set, expertise, etc.
Comments were made that in the contract, engineers would be a cost to the City. Mr. Collins
stated if we do a Capital Project we would still need to hire an engineer. Mr. Page stated they
- deal with the operation, maintenance, and management. He commented that they do try to be
good partners in a community and keep the money there.
Page 5, City Council Study Session, November 15, 2011
Councilmember's serving on the committee explained the process the committee went through in
selecting Veolia to manage, maintain and operate the WWTP. Vision and focus that this
company brought forward were mentioned. Willingness to work with the current employees and
commitment to the community was mentioned. Concerns were mentioned about the dollar
amounts submitted in Veolia's presentation reflecting a savings to the City.
Mentioned was if the City decided to run this on their own we needed to put additional expertise
into the system and needed more information on what it would cost. Repair costs to the facility
were needed. It was recommended to have another Study Session.
Ms. Brown stated there was no set schedule but the quicker the closure of this issue the better for
the employees at the plant. After further discussion the consensus of Council was to take more
time to study this issue.
Mayor Vavricek commented on vision, past history of the plant, loss of JBS as a customer to the
plant, multiple 9% rate increases, and process of the management agreement. Mentioned was that
changes at the WWTP would be needed.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.
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RaNae Edwards
City Clerk